Soul Searcher by D.M. Richardson (novel24 .TXT) 📕

“You’re willing to pay for this?” Sara asked.

“Yes. I would pay for this and more. If you decide not to I can get it cancelled and get the money back. I have to find a home for her soon. I have two weeks before she gets put back in the system and then I might never find her again.” Koner and Sara left the room for a few minutes to discuss things.

I sat and talked to Kristi and Jack while they were gone. When she asked who the nice looking man and lady were I wasn’t quite sure how to answer her. Luckily they came back before I had to. Koner crouched in front of the door and Sara dropped to her knees.

“Kristi would you come here and talk to us for a minute?” he asked in his soft voice. She looked up at me and when I nodded she hopped down and walked up to him. The way they were sitting they were eye level with them. I held my breath.

“Kristi do you like this house?” Koner asked. She looked between the two of them and nodded.

“Yes, everything is really pretty and clean.”

“Do you like us?” Sara asked.

“Yes you both seem very nice and Rayne really likes you and she doesn’t like anyone. And I think you’re very pretty.” she said to Sara suddenly shy. Sara chuckled.

“Well thank you. I think you’re very pretty too.” Kristi mumbled a thank you.

“Kristi would you like to live with us?” Koner asked hesitantly. I sucked in a breath and waited.

“But what about grandma Gale and grandpa Fred?” she asked. They all turned to look at me and I kept my eyes on Koner and Sara as I answered her.

“Gale and Fred are very sick and can’t move around like they used to. But you could see them whenever you want.” Koner and Sara both nodded.

“I don‘t know.”

“I’ll be here everyday. I live here now too. And Sara and Koner really like you.” I answered again. She looked up at me with wide eyed innocence.

“You live here?” I nodded with a small smile. She looked back at Sara and Koner.

“So does this mean you want to be my mommy and daddy?” she asked hopefully. Sara let out a small sob.

“Yes we would very much.” Kristi looked down at her feet and then back up at them.

“Okay then I want to live here too.” I dropped my face into my right hand and squeezed the bridge of my nose willing my tears away. I hadn’t remembered ever being this happy.

“When can she stay?” Koner asked rising to his feet.

“All I need is your signature and she can start staying here tonight. Everything else has been arranged.” Jack answered.

“But what about her things?” Sara asked. I cleared my throat and felt a slight blush starting on my neck.

“She has two suitcases in the trunk of my car. I didn’t mean to be presumptuous but I wanted everything done as soon as possible. I was really hopeful.” I finished weakly. To my relief they both smiled at me.

“We don’t have a room ready for her though.” Sara said with worry.

“She can sleep with me. We shared a room before she’s used to it.”

“I’m right here!” Kristi said with a huff and stomped her foot startling all of us. We all laughed.

“Of course you are sweet heart I’m sorry.” Koner answered gently. She nodded.

“She’s a little hot headed.” I explained and earned a glare from Kristi. “I can go get her things from my car. I need to make a phone call too.” they all nodded and Jack followed me out to give them some private time to get to know each other a little better.

While I was outside I called Gale and told her the good news. I grabbed one of Kristi’s suitcases and Jack grabbed the other one. We carried them up to my room and when I came down I found all three of them in the living room.

They were sitting on the couch close together. Sara sat on one side of her and Koner sat on the other. Kristi was giggling at Koner as he read her a book. Sara was smoothing her hair as Koner looked over and smiled down at her. I hadn’t known the couple for very long, but I knew they were the best thing for the little girl. I dreaded the day they would send me away. I only hoped they had enough affection for Kristi to let me visit her.

Jack announced that he needed to be going and Kristi and I walked him out. When we came back in I suggested it was time for Kristi to go to bed. Sara said their good nights and I offered my hand to Kristi. She took it and I led her up to our room. I dug through her suitcases and grabbed her a nightgown. When I had her changed I brushed out her hair like I used to do every night. I sent her to go to the bathroom and brush her teeth as I made up the bed. When she came in I tucked her in and went to take a shower.

The next morning I woke up with a small, warm body pressed up against me. I opened my eyes to see a blonde head just under my nose. I took a deep breathe taking in her soft scented shampoo. I smiled and she stirred. She sat up and looked at me rubbing her eyes.

“Morning” she mumbled. I slid out of bed and got out one of her favorite outfits. After she was dressed I changed my own clothes. When I turned around she was gone. I brushed my hair really quick and braided it. I was done in only a few minutes. I ran down the stairs after her. When I finally had her in my sights she was opening the front door.

“Kristi what are you doing?” I called as I jumped the last couple steps. She stood there looking up at Zeke. He looked down at her then back up at me with a raised eyebrow. “Kristi you don’t open the door. If someone knocks you come get someone.” I scolded her. She stuck her tongue out at me and ran into the kitchen where she received a loud happy welcome from Sara.

“When did you get a short person?” Zeke asked in a quiet amused tone. I smiled at him. Even his sarcasm couldn’t dampen my mood today.

“Last night. What are you doing here?” He held up his text book and shrugged.

“Oh yeah. Sorry I forgot. Why don’t you go ahead into the dining room, and I’ll run up and get my things. I turned and took the stairs as quickly as I could.

When I came back down I went into the dining room. Kristi was sitting across from Zeke eating her breakfast. Well she had a plate of food in front of her. She was actually just sitting there staring at Zeke. It seemed more like she was trying to stare him down. He had his sunglasses laying on the table and he was leaned toward her staring back intently. I paused to watch what would happen.

“What’s your name?” she asked still staring.

“Zeke”

“Why do you wear sunglasses?”

“The light hurts my eyes.”

“If you stop wearing them you might get used to the light.”

“Light has always hurt my eyes. That’s why I started wearing them.”

“Why are you here?”

“Rayne helps me with my homework.”

“It’s Saturday.” I almost laughed.

“Yes but I have a lot of homework.”

“Do you like Rayne?”

“I think she’s very nice.”

“Are you nice?”

“I like to think I am.”

“Rayne’s last boyfriend wasn’t very nice.” I decided it was time to announce my presence. I stepped further into the room and they both turned to me. I kept my eyes on Kristi and Zeke put his glasses back on.

“Kristi eat your breakfast.” I sat down next to Zeke and he opened his book. We got about a half hour of quiet study before Kristi started making a lot of noise. Sara pulled her out of the room to brush her hair, but right after she was done she came back in with some of her toys. She sat behind us playing loudly and we had to raise our voices to hear each other. I turned to Kristi in exasperation.

“Kristi why don’t you go play in the living room?” I asked gently.

“No I want to play in here.” I sighed and tried to go on with studying. After a few more minutes I tried again.

“Kristi you’re being really loud can you quiet down so we can finish studying?”

“No I have to play this loud or it wouldn’t be fun.” After about five more minutes I gave up. I gathered my things and stood.

“Come on” He grabbed his stuff and followed me out of the room. I led him up the stairs and into my room. He hesitated at the door. I spread my stuff back out on the bed and looked at him expectantly. He stepped in slowly and walked over to the desk instead of the bed. I noticed he avoided physical contact like I avoided eye contact. I scooted over so I was close enough to him and we got back to work.

About an hour later Sara came in to let me know she was taking Kristi shopping. I guess I was a little overly happy because she smiled down at me fondly. I blinked a couple times after she left and started to feel worried. It wouldn’t be long before they wouldn’t want me anymore. I could feel my power getting stronger everyday. Now it wasn’t just chance when I accidentally made contact, it was every time. I was getting so many peoples life stories that I got frequent headaches. It seemed like as soon as I get a release the pressure began building again. I couldn’t have Sara or Koner grow too fond of me. I liked them a lot and it would be hard enough when they asked me to leave. I couldn’t afford too much of an emotional attachment.

I looked up to find Zeke studying me closely. I went back to the school work quickly.

A couple hours later Sara returned and Zeke was fixing to leave.

“Oh Sara. My dad wanted to invite all of you to dinner tonight.” she smiled at him.

“That sounds great I’ll let Koner know.” She carried all of her bags up stairs and Kristi barreled into me for a hug. Zeke left as Sara came back downstairs. I offered to help, but she told me not to worry about it and asked me to get Kristi a snack instead. I took her into the kitchen and made her a sandwich. I entertained her for a while, and a couple hours later Sara found us.

We were sitting on the living room floor playing patty cake. She stood there for a few minutes watching us before she asked us to follow her upstairs. She led us to the spare room and stepped aside to allow us to enter first.

The room looked completely different. In the daylight I could see the color of the walls better. They were a dark purple and I noticed